From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Daffodils in the Pasture

Boy with buttercups

Here in Christian County, Kentucky, it's not unusual to see places where old-time, single-bloom daffodils have naturalized. In this case, I speculate that a few bulbs were planted many years ago, near a house or cabin that doesn't exist anymore.

I call these flowers "daffodils", but people around here often call them "buttercups." Maybe this little Mennonite boy calls them "Osterglocken" as they do in Germany -- literally, "Easter bells."

6 comments:

A very nice picture. I especially like the small boy making off with a bouquet of yellow.

In Wordsworth's words, "a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze"

Here in north central West Virginia only the leaves are apparent, but during the past couple of weeks we drove through southern Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and west to Texas, and enjoyed the sight of many fields of daffodils in bloom, some densely packed into what must in some time past have been homesteads.

Thank you, Robert. I love the Wordsworth quote. The little boy in the photo was so engrossed in making his bouquet that he didn't even notice I had stopped to take his picture. I was happy for him that he could pick as many daffodils as he wanted.

Thanks for visiting, Sue. I like this photo a lot, too. It is nice to have a short winter in Kentucky, but we pay for it with a long season of very hot, humid weather. I know that's the growing season, but sometimes in July or August, I wouldn't care if the heat would abate a month or two early.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)